Some parents kill female infants because they only want male babies. This may be especially prevalent in societies in which male (but not female) children are expected to look after their aging parents, or in which a dowry is necessary for marriage.[5]

Murderers of disabled children may receive sympathy to the point that people argue for a light sentence.[13] For example, the two killers of Alex Spourdalakis were only sentenced for 3 years each, despite the horrific brutality of his murder,[1] and the mother of 14-year-old Annie Marshall (who had been shut in a room and slowly starved to death), received only 5 years in prison.[14]

While the murderer may claim it was an act of altruism, they may have a history of hating the child's disability, suggesting that the act of cruelty was actually because they didn't want the child.

The Disability Day of Mourning keeps a long list of disabled people murdered by their families.[15]

“”In the wake of this tragedy, I read a lot of articles that asked the readers to imagine how George’s mother must have felt. But I didn’t see a single article that asked the reader to empathize for George, to imagine how it feels to see your mother point a gun at you.

Autism is a heavily stigmatized disability, and not all parents love their autistic children. Frighteningly, autistic children in particular are more likely to be victims of murder-suicide.[17]

Katie McCarron's family wants her photos shared so people can know what a happy child she was. Her grandfather reported that her interests included singing, going to the zoo, dancing, visiting the mall, dressing up, and playing outside

Here is an incomplete list of autistic children and young people who were killed.

Daniel Corby (4), drowned in 2012 by his mother;[20] his mother may have been inspired by the news coverage of George Hodgins' death[16]

Alex Spourdalakis, a boy who loved music and balloons, brutally murdered in 2013 by his anti-vaxxer mother and his godmother;[21][1] he was a subject of several Age of Autism blog posts and was likely subjected to various biomedical "cures" before he was killed[22]

Elisa (11) and Martin (10) Manrique, killed in 2016 by their father[23]

London McCabe (6), a cheerful and loving boy who liked big hats and watching his parents kiss, thrown off a bridge in 2014 by his anti-vaxxer mother[24][25]

Austin Anderson (19), who was blind and had limited mobility, left in a field to die without water or medication while his physically abusivemeth-abusing mother watched in 2016[27][28]

Katie McCarron (3), an intelligent autistic girl who loved singing and walking in tall grass (among many things[29]), was suffocated by her mother[30]

Je'Hyrah Daniels (4), thrown into a river in 2018 by her negligent and thieving mother who didn't want an autistic daughter[31][32]

Sarah Dubois-Gilbeau (5), who loved acting out movie scenes and Lego comic books, beaten to death by her father who didn't like her autism[33]

Many of them are deeply missed by friends and family members, who said they were loving and a joy to have in their lives.[34][35][36][37] None of these children and young people deserved death.[citation NOT needed]

Some members of the autism rights movement have raised concerns that sympathetic media portrayals could be linked to copycat crimes.[38] For example, 4 days after Autism Speaks released a video in which a mother discussed contemplating murder-suicide, 3-year-old autistic Katie McCarron was murdered by her mother.[11][39]

“”Conversations about services and conversations about child abuse and murder need to be separated by a brick wall. This isn’t about services. And when we say, give us more funding or parents will kill their kids, we are saying, very literally: give us more money, or the kid gets it.

However, this doesn't account for the existence of wealthy murderers, or the existence of murderers who reject help from others.[1][43] Advocates for autistic people have argued that claiming services will stop murders sounds awfully similar to using children's lives as a bargaining chip.[44]

Members of anti-autism communities have spoken up for murderers and would-be murderers on social media, telling people to "walk in [the murderer's] shoes" before judging them.[48]

Understandably, this shocked people. Decent parents of disabled children expressed horror at the idea that it is somehow "normal" to want to kill a child.[49][50] Autistics, including autistic abuse survivors, have asked why no one ever thinks to walk in their shoes, pointing out how hard it is to be an autistic child whose parent hates autism.[51] "I could have been [attempted murder victim] Issy Stapleton," noted autistic writer Kassiane Sibley, whose violent mother threw her against a wall hard enough to dent her skull.[52]

The death of a child is a terrible thing, including the death of an autistic child.[53]

Members of the autism rights movement have pointed out that the common denominator is likely the horrible belief that children are better off dead than disabled.[54] Some murderers have refused to accept their children's disabilities, and have put them through intensive behavior modification or biomedical "treatments" before deciding to kill them.[55] "The truth is, Kelli didn’t want Issy anymore. She made it look like it was unselfish and loving, but it was not unselfish and loving," said Eileen Stapleton, grandmother of murder attempt survivor Issy Stapleton.[56]

On March 1, many disabled advocates observe the Disability Day of Mourning.